The main Finnish newspaper, Helsingin Sanomat, recently ran an article reviewing Helsinki area hotel spas that can be accessed by visitors as well as hotel guests. This article was like made for me! I learned about many interesting spas that I will have to visit, despite trying to do the same research myself earlier. My first target from the list was the Korpilampi hotel spa.
Korpilampi is, as its name in Finnish implies, a hotel by a forest lake in the middle of nowhere. I had never been here, though I knew it existed. I didn't even know they had a spa, let alone that you could swim the lake. I did know about the nearby ski hill, Serena Ski, and the massive (but a bit crazy) spa, Serena Waterpark.
But the Helsingin Sanomat article (subscription required, sorry) made me realize the hotel was also worth a visit.
Much more so than I thought before actually getting there! The hotel itself is quite interesting, white building rising out of the forest hill, very nicely fitting to the environment still. The saunas and the spa are in the basement, the saunas and the basement are nothing to write home about, but the pool are is nice with views of the forest and the small lake.
But what really brings this experience to a different level -- not easily found anywhere else in the Helsinki region hotels -- is the lake. Step out from a door in the glass walls surrounding the pool, and you're immediately on a small terrance and surrounded by the lake. And there you can step on to the water via steps, summer *and* winter. Yes, there's ice swimming here, too.
But what makes this particularly special is the how well the building is placed in the lake. The lake itself is a sprawling, complex shape, and hotel building knees right on its level by having the basement come to just above the lake level. And the lake is not on a flat land, but rather squeezed between the rocky hills surrounding the area. While the lake is actually medium size, the hotel spa overlooks just one corner of it that feels like a small pond.
You are surrounded by the the rocky hills, untouched forest, and you can dip into the dark water of the lake, above you is the white classic building.
Bliss.
9.5 degrees. And getting colder.
The hotel's home page is here. Entrance for visiting guests is 15€. They are by the way open late, until 22:00, so this is a good option for me to go for a swim when other places have already closed.
This by the way was the last day of my swim-every-day-challenge (article (alt. link), alt. link), as I was feeling a bit under the weather the next day. It was a great ending to a long run of swims, very happy I did this.
More photos:
This article has also been published at Planetswimmer.com here. Read the full series of sauna and swimming stories from planetswimmer.com and saunablogger.cool, urban exploration articles at theurbanexplorer.net, or all blog articles from Blogspot. Photos and text (c) 2026 by Jari Arkko. Lake and sauna photos in this article were taken when the facility was empty or closed.
This article was originally published in the Planetskier Blogspot article series.
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